Despite losing its final two games, UTEP still was attractive to the GMAC Bowl. And now, the Miners will head to Mobile, Ala., to play the Toledo Rockets on Dec. 21.

UTEP officially accepted the GMAC Bowl invitation Saturday, as Miner head coach Mike Price announced it to his team on the Sun Bowl Jumbotron after practice. It will be Price's first football foray into Alabama since he was fired from the University of Alabama in 2003 for alleged improper conduct at a Florida strip club.

It will be UTEP's second consecutive bowl trip and 12th bowl appearance overall. The Miners haven't been to back-to-back bowls since the 1954-55 seasons.

Last year, UTEP lost to Colorado 33-28 in the EV1.net Houston Bowl.

"There is a lot of history and tradition in Mobile," Price said. "The GMAC had the second pick, and they took us. It will be a competitive game. I think our players are honored. It's a chance to end the season on a winning note."

The Miners (8-3, 5-3 in C-USA) and the Rockets (8-3, 6-2 in the Mid-American Conference) will kick off at 7 p.m. CST (6 p.m. in El Paso) Dec. 21 at Mobile's Ladd- Peebles Stadium. The UTEP team will leave for Mobile on Dec. 16. The payout for the GMAC Bowl is $750,000, and the game will be televised nationally by ESPN.

UTEP also was being considered for the Fort Worth Bowl.

Price did not much acknowledge the returning-to-Alabama angle.

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"It's history," he said. "It's a nonissue. Alabama is a great football state, Texas is a great football state, and we'll be playing against a great football state, Ohio. So it means a lot."

Toledo accepted its GMAC Bowl invitation Nov. 28. The Rockets were co-champs of the West Division of the Mid- American Conference. They boast senior quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, who was named the co-winner of the 2005 Vern Smith Award by the MAC. He has thrown for 2,171 yards and 24 touchdowns this season and is projected to be a high NFL pick.

The Rockets will be making their 10th bowl appearance. Four of those have occurred since Tom Amstutz took over as head football coach in 2001.

The Miners were on track to play in the Conference USA championship -- and, at one point, host it --before losing their final two games, to the University of Alabama-Birmingham on Nov. 19 and Southern Methodist University Nov. 26. The losses knocked them out of the C-USA title game.

UTEP junior quarterback Jordan Palmer, who acknowledged having his worst-ever game against the Mustangs, said he's happy just to be playing one more time this year.

"They (Toledo) have a really good quarterback," Palmer said. "He's a tough senior leader who is climbing up people's draft boards. They have a good team. We'll have to work hard and be focused. It's good that we'll have a lot of our injured players back."

Still, Palmer said watching Tulsa beat Central Florida for the conference title was difficult.

"Watching two other teams is frustrating," he said. "But other than that, there aren't many negatives. Alabama is fine with me."

Senior defensive lineman Chris Mineo, who practiced Saturday for the first time since suffering a severe ankle injury against Memphis, agreed: "I don't know much about the city or the bowl, but I was here for the two years before the bowl games. I'll take it. It will be fun."

This bowl game is especially important to the seniors, such as sixth-year player Josh House.

"This is my last college game, so it means everything to me," he said. "So I'm looking forward to it."

Senior tailback Tyler Ebell, who also practiced Saturday for the first time since suffering an undisclosed injury Nov. 5, said: "I'm excited. It's another game, and another chance to play with our senior class. The whole team is excited to go to Alabama."

Junior linebacker Jeremy Jones said: "Toledo has been playing on TV all year pretty much. I'm ready to get this bad taste (of the last two games) out of my mouth. It's time to put it on somebody, and give the fans something to look forward to."

Jones, who has a toe injury, will return to practice Wednesday.

UTEP has not won a bowl game since beating Mississippi 14-7 in the 1967 Sun Bowl. It has not ended the season with a victory since 1986, when the Bob Stull-coached Miners beat Utah 55-44 in the season finale. And the Miners have not won a final game on the road since 1970, when they won 37-16 at Trinity.

The bowl game will be the first meeting between UTEP and Toledo.

Tickets, which cost $15 for the end zones and $45 for the sides, are on sale and can be bought by calling the GMAC Bowl office at (251) 635-0011.